As used herein, the term “organized athletic event” refers to an event wherein a predetermined minimum number of humans gather and participate in a defined athletic activity at about the same time or within a defined time. Organized athletic events typically include some rules or guidelines for the athletic activity (e.g., a particular course to run for an agreed upon distance), which rules or guidelines are defined and controlled by an event organizer. The event organizer may be a single individual, a group of individuals, a corporate entity (whether profit or not-for-profit) or other entity. Examples of “organized athletic events” may include marathons, 5 K runs, charity walks, hikes, swims, bike races, motor sports challenges, and ball games. The foregoing examples of “organized athletic events” are offered herein by way of example only and without limitation. It will be recognized that numerous other organized athletic events are possible. The term “event” may also be used herein to refer to an “organized athletic event”.
Organized athletic events occur at various times and locations throughout the world on a daily basis. These organized athletic events include running events such as marathons, half-marathons or 5 K runs, cycling events such as century rides, road races, or mountain bike races, or winter sporting events such as downhill or cross-country skiing races. Athletes competing in such events are often interested in knowing how their performance compares to others competitors. Accordingly, when a runner or cyclist participates in an organized athletic event, the organizers of such event will often provide the competitor with information about his or her performance within the event. Unfortunately, the information is often incomplete or lacking in detail. For example, a runner may be told that he finished 20th out of two hundred participants in a marathon in a particular city. However, the runner may be interested in receiving more information than the organizers of the race are capable of providing. For example, the runner may wish to know how his or her performance on a given day compared to the performance of other runners nationwide or worldwide on the same day or for the year. Unfortunately this information is very difficult or impossible to obtain as race data is typically only maintained and shared at the discretion of the organizer, or is only maintained for a limited number of races in a limited number of cities.
In addition to the above, athletes may also be interested in receiving additional messages based on organized athletic event the athlete recently participated in. For example, a runner may be interested in receiving advertising about a local shoe store or healthy restaurant that is in the same city as a recently completed marathon. As another example, a runner may be interested in receiving a motivational message recognizing the runner's participation in a recently completed marathon, providing information about training programs for marathons, and informing the athlete of future marathons in his or her area. Such advertising and motivational messages are typically only provided by the event organizer, and the athlete is unable to receive any advertising or motivational messages from other groups. Accordingly, even though information and support may be available for the athlete, the athlete may have a difficult time receiving this information and support unless it is provided by an event organizer.
In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to providing a system and method for determining the occurrence of organized athletic events. It would also be advantageous to share information and messages with participants of such organized athletic events. For example, it would be advantageous to identify an athlete that ran in a marathon, provide the athlete with statistical information about his or her performance, and advertise goods or services that the athlete may be interested in based on his or her participation in the marathon.